Well, I called Summit Racing, and they called Wheel Vintiques, and the news is not good for us Buick owners. The wheel centers are made by another vendor, who has tooling problems. There is no short-term solution, it may be several more months before ANY Buick repro wheels can be assembled and delivered. Luckily, I have my old wheels on the car, which look OK from a distance, so I'll stay in line and wait this out. Not good news for folks waiting to complete their cars.
I just ordered my set from Coker Tire tonight. They have 5 left right now. I called Cars, and they said there was a long wait, at least 2 months, and I had to pay to get in line! Beth and Dana, I hope they look as good as yours! Cancelled my order with Summitt.
Derek, You may have jumped too soon. Summit just moved my shipping date from April 16th to March 28th. First hopeful news in months.
Harry, they have not communicated with me since Jan., so I did not want to risk never getting them. I hope you get yours soon!
I called them today for the 15x8 rallyes that I ordered back in SEPTEMBER! They gave me the same answer, sounds like Wheel Vintiques doesn't want to make them anymore. I got my money back, but the thing that really :rant: me off, is that they actually sent me two BENT 15x8's back in November. (Damaged in shipping) I sent them back, but apparently they were repaired and shipped to someone else. So now I am stuck with two 15x7's for the front and nothing for the rear! Might just ship those back too, and get some Weld Draglites. Thanks for nothing Wheel Vintiques! :blast:
1970Lark, That's extremely bad news. Today, my backorder date just went from 4/02 to 4/25. I have decent 14X6 wheels on the car, so I'll hold out till maybe June. I think at that point I'll have to "call it" as they say on the ER show when somebody dies and can't be revived. My car skids badly when braking despite upgraded brakes and a suspension rebuild. It did that even when it was new, which is scary. So I'll have to go with bigger non-Buick wheels just to have more tread under me. The impact of this is devastating - no more vintage Buick wheels are being manufactured, by anybody. A very, very sad event.
Well, Coker Tire came through. I ordered them Friday night, and got them yesterday. Yes, they were a few bucks more than Summit, but who cares. They look real nice! Guess what? They came from Specialty Wheel! They were in thier boxes!
Wel.... Keep it up Buick lovers, I am looking into the same thing. The 15 X 10 Wheel Vintiques look like the way to go.
Well, I just placed an order for two 15x8's from Coker tire, woohoo!! He said they were Wheel Vintiques though? Derek said his were from Specialty wheel? Oh well even if they are hopefully they will somewhat match the 2 that I already have. Oh and thanks to Derek for the tip! :beer
Just an update for you guys...I called Jegs to check on my order I placed on 1/3/05. They tell me that there scheduled delivery date is now end of April.
Stockton does not list Buick style wheels in their catalog or on their website. My understanding is that there were only two actual manufacturers, Specialty Wheels and Wheel Vintiques. The start of this post was about Specialty Wheels discontinuing Buick rallye's, and now it appears that Wheel Vintiques is doing the same. If Wheel Vintiques doesn't resume production, those new wheels some of you just received should be kept boxed and then auctioned off in a year or two as the best investment you'll ever make.
It may not say Buick, but I think I would call and ask about this one, if I needed new wheels and couldn't find them anywhere. I'm pretty sure you can get them in other custom sizes, also.
I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but here is a response to an e-mail I sent to Stockton Wheel. I guess a person would be better off calling and asking them directly about their wheels to make sure it's a Buick style. sales1@stocktonwheel.com Sunday, March 27, 2005 1:12 AM Re: Buick factory wheels We still straighten steel wheels and rechome the orginal rally wheels. We have the Buick 5 spoke rally in 14" and 15". Most Buick caps are in stock. We also stock OEM chrome lug nuts. Frank
